Advice for those considering surgury.....

[NoDozer]

This is my first post on this site, so Hello All!

I just started with the Liberty and have had good luck after two nights.

Up to this point, I tried CPAP and hated it....got the UPPP and thought I was cured until I started waking up...I ended up worse than I was.

I actually asked for the CPAP back because I was at the end of my rope. I've struggled with the Swift & Swift II, the Ultra Mirage and some very short trials of other masks.

The Swift works great until my mouth falls open or blows out because of a short soft palate. The Ultra Mirage was a nightmare of itching, tickling and leaking.

I finally tried the Liberty and it seams to have corrected all the issues I've been having. I hope it continues, because I've had a history of trying things and they work great for a few days and then the nightmare begins again. I'm fairly optimistic on this, so I'm hoping for good results.

I'm at the point where I haven't ruled out the MMA surgury or other possible procedures if I think there is a chance of real success. I just need to do much more research this time around.

I don't pay much attention to my numbers other than to note that they tell me I have severe apnea. I seem to average about 4-6 on the AHI with all of the masks.

My advice for anyone considering surgury is to give CPAP a real effort and get to a point where you can make a sound decision instead of a sleep deprived one. I never knew I had sleep apnea before going in. After the surgury, I KNEW I had sleep apnea. It made me much worse, even though the sleep study numbers came back nearly identical before & after. I was so miserable about 3 months after the surgury that I was begging to get the CPAP back.

So, figure out a way to get some sleep before making a drastic decision like I did.

Thanks, and I look forward to chatting with all of you.

[TXKajun]

Hi there, NoDozer and welcome aboard!

Your story sounds like you've been through the wringer....and still need XPAP. Sheesh! We've heard other similar stories, but none quite so vivid, at least to me. Thanks for sharing and, again, welcome aboard.

Kajun

[Snoredog]

UPPP surgery doesn't prevent your tongue from falling into the back of the throat. Your OSA got worse because all UPPP does is make a larger hole for it to land into.

Depending on the size of your tongue, MMA and/or GA may not work either. Maybe you need to check into the tongue tether, but even that isn't 100%.

Once you get used to it CPAP is no different than putting on a jacket when you go outside when its cold. Get back in the house you take it off. That is the way you have to look at it, put it on when you go to sleep, take it off when you get up.

[DreamStalker]

UPPP surgery doesn't prevent your tongue from falling into the back of the throat. Your OSA got worse because all UPPP does is make a larger hole for it to land into.

Depending on the size of your tongue, MMA and/or GA may not work either. Maybe you need to check into the tongue tether, but even that isn't 100%.

Once you get used to it CPAP is no different than putting on a jacket when you go outside when its cold. Get back in the house you take it off. That is the way you have to look at it, put it on when you go to sleep, take it off when you get up.

Yea but a jacket is much softer and some of them can even make you look sexy ... a CPAP

... but you are absolutely right -- it is a matter of forcing yourself to accept a new lifestyle, that simple.

[Idget]

Good luck with the Liberty. I started CPAP in september. I first used the Quattro and hated the full face mask. Had claustraphobia issues and mask really hurt my face. I have fully adjusted to the Liberty. It doesn't hurt my face at all and with the pillows absolutely no claustraphobia issues. Only problem I had was at high pressure (16) the pillows came out. I tried some of the creams suggested but they only helped a little. Right now I use bandaids to hold in place and it works. I also had some very high leaks that I attributed to my beard. I took suggestion of using Mac's silicon ear plugs to mold a flat bead of silicon putty around the mask. This has made a great improvement to my leak rate keeping under 20 most nights. Only makes clean up a bit longer, but the silicon just comes off like putty in one piece but some will stick to mask. Comes off easy enough with soap and water though. Stick with it. The first two weeks were the absolute worst. I didn't think I could do this. Now I actually look forward to putting the mask on at night.

[RosemaryB]

[quote="NoDozer"]This is my first post on this site, so Hello All!

I just started with the Liberty and have had good luck after two nights.

Up to this point, I tried CPAP and hated it....got the UPPP and thought I was cured until I started waking up...I ended up worse than I was.

I actually asked for the CPAP back because I was at the end of my rope. I've struggled with the Swift & Swift II, the Ultra Mirage and some very short trials of other masks.

The Swift works great until my mouth falls open or blows out because of a short soft palate. The Ultra Mirage was a nightmare of itching, tickling and leaking.

I finally tried the Liberty and it seams to have corrected all the issues I've been having. I hope it continues, because I've had a history of trying things and they work great for a few days and then the nightmare begins again. I'm fairly optimistic on this, so I'm hoping for good results.

I'm at the point where I haven't ruled out the MMA surgury or other possible procedures if I think there is a chance of real success. I just need to do much more research this time around.

I don't pay much attention to my numbers other than to note that they tell me I have severe apnea. I seem to average about 4-6 on the AHI with all of the masks.

My advice for anyone considering surgury is to give CPAP a real effort and get to a point where you can make a sound decision instead of a sleep deprived one. I never knew I had sleep apnea before going in. After the surgury, I KNEW I had sleep apnea. It made me much worse, even though the sleep study numbers came back nearly identical before & after. I was so miserable about 3 months after the surgury that I was begging to get the CPAP back.

So, figure out a way to get some sleep before making a drastic decision like I did.

Thanks, and I look forward to chatting with all of you.

[wabmorgan]

I had ENT saying UPP would help.

SLeep dr said.... it might reduce my pressure but I would still be on CPAP.

SO, I dicided not to have the surgery.